"He has definitely showed us be belongs here right now," said Julien of the AHL all-star. "He is one of those guys who is going to be given a real good opportunity to stay.

"He’s a big guy; he's got a good physical presence. I think the other thing you have to keep in mind is how will that player play when he’s got the Boston Bruins team to play with.

"Right now we have a lot of young guys and you need to keep that in mind when you are assessing a player.

"I think Johnny has shown me so far that I can see why he is one of the best defensemen last year in the [AHL]. He’s got a great shot, he’s made some good decisions, he’s not afraid to throw his weight around."

Where is Marco?
Julien wasw questioned about about his putting Marco Sturm on the right wing instead of his usual left wing during Saturday's game.

"That’s something he's done in the past," said Julien. "I’ve talked to him and he really likes it.
"He feels comfortable in taking the puck to the net from the outside with his speed being able to cut back on his forehand.

"Blake Wheeler was doing that same thing on the left side last year. There are certain guys that can use that to their advantage," he said.

And this is the time of year to give those things a shot.

"We have those preseason games to experiment with," said Julien. "Last year there was no room on the right side for Blake Wheeler so the only chance he had was to give him a shot on the left to see how he handled it and he handled it well.

"That’s one of the reasons he made the team.

"Again in Marco’s situation we got a guy like Recchi that plays left or right and we want Marco to do the same thing. I like players you can move around because throughout the course of a season you are going to have to move them around," said Julien.

Both squads are 2-1-0.
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5:08 p.m.
We're in Le Colisee Pepsi. Kevin Paul Dupont of Boston.com tracked town the internet password and here we are.

The Canadiens and the Bruins played two preseason games against each other last season. The B's stung the Habs 8-3 in Halifax's Metro Centre on September 22. The Habs bested the Bruins 3-1 in the Bell Centre on Oct. 1.

12:00 p.m.It was a sleepy morning here in the TD Garden -- practice is over. In about 90-minutes, the club will head to the airport. 10:35 a.m.This is a home game of sorts for Patrice Bergeron, who grew up in the Quebec City area. Patrice, Max Sauve, Dany Sabourin and Guillaume Lefebvre all stand to have fans in the stands when we get to Le Colisee Pepsi later today.